


There Is Such A Thing As Overprepared

by Ononymous



Series: Christmas 2017 Stories and Requests [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Post-Undertale Neutral Route - Empress Undyne Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 03:04:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13181043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: After the human has come and gone, the Underground is scared and on edge under a new regime. Monster Kid thinks he knows someone who can help, but they might need a little help themselves.





	There Is Such A Thing As Overprepared

**Author's Note:**

> Original Requests: "Undyne as Santa in the Empress Undyne ending" + "Monster Kid saves Christmas"

He wasn't stupid. He could see something was up. Last year the whole family had gone round to the big tree in Snowdin Town and helped the bears lay out their presents, before capping the day off with a cup of hot chocolate before a gentle reminder they should go to bed. Now they stayed indoors most of the day, and Mom had straight up ordered them to bed, even before the new curfew took effect. His sister didn't think anything of it, but he saw the look in his Dad's eyes.

Well he wasn't gonna stand for it. Nothing could ruin this day. And that's why he was lying wide awake in bed, deliberately sitting on his tail so the discomfort would ward off sleep, for a chance to meet the one person who might be able to fix things. He was determined to.

The tick-tock of the clock on his wall grew more pronounced as the dark hours continued inexorably forward, but it was the only sound. He'd done something similar last year for more innocent reasons, but he hadn't thought of the tail thing, and by the time he awoke his quarry had come and gone. Well the dude had just his normal job back then, but if he could meet him, maybe-

The front door opened and closed roughly. Now! Taking just a moment to stretch his tail, he opened his bedroom door and quietly crept down to the living room.

"Yo!"

The red-clad figure standing before the tree turned to face him. Something was different.

"Dude, you've lost a lot of weight."

Santa's razor sharp teeth grew into a grin. "Thanks, kid! Fu Hu Hu! Can't wait for it, can ya?"

"Well, yeah, but I wanted to ask-"

"Awesome! Here ya go!" A package was tossed across the room. "Well? Open it!"

A little perplexed, he carefully grabbed the ribbon with his foot and pulled it apart, brushing the red paper aside to the box within. A large metal ball with spikes sat on what looked like a cone.

"Uh, what's this?"

Santa looked a little offended. "It's a practice mace! You can strap it on and pretend you're bashing a human's skull in! Here, I'll show you."

In a swift motion the mace was picked up, his tail was grabbed and something thrust onto the end of it. Looking behind him, he saw Santa adjusting the straps so it was attached tight. Once she let go, it fell to the floor with a thump, ripping the mug.

"Woah, this is heavy."

"I got here just in time, then. You kids need to start getting ready to fight! Hey," a blue spear flashed into her hand, "wanna spar with Santa?"

"I didn't think Santa fought. And didn't I ask for some comicbooks?"

The grin became a scowl. "Things change kid. Santa has to get you what you need, not what you want. We all have to be ready in case we're attacked. You should see the cool dagger boots your sister's getting!"

"But dude, people are stressed about all that junk already. My Mom hasn't smiled all day, and this is normally her favourite day."

"Good," she said simply, "if they're worried, they'll be alert. And nobody else will die."

"...that's kinda harsh, Santa."

"It's a harsh world, kid."

"I mean, last year my sis was so pumped when you got her-"

Santa's single yellow eye vanished, clearly pained.

"You okay?"

"...he's just a kid he doesn't know anything just do what you gotta do don't get mad..."

"Hey, I gotta ask, can you help everyone cheer up? Worrying all the time sucks. I know the new Empress tries really hard, but-"

"Who the hell keeps calling her that? Sans? She ain't royalty, she's just the First Citizen!"

"Well, she just hung out so much with Asgore that it kinda made sense, y'know...?"

Santa's feelings were being probed in very uncomfortable ways, and there was one solution to this. Get mad. "Just enjoy your damn mace!"

"Dude, if I wanted to train to fight, I'd just sign up for the Junior Royal Guards."

"That's a great idea! I've got permission forms your parents can fill-"

"No way! I get enough of it at school these days. Drill, drill, drill. I thought maybe you could get everyone to relax a little, but you're buying into it too! What the heck, Santa?"

"You wanna know what the heck? You know how close you came to dying?!"

"Yo, what-"

" **THE HUMAN!!!** "

Another hole in the rug opened up as a spear stabbed it in a blind rage.

"The First Citizen told me about it! You accompanied them through most of Waterfall! One pirouette from those shoes and you'd be a pile of dust! And then they had the nerve to give m- her some water. As if they pitied her! Where the hell was that pity when they faced Hephaestus? Or Madjick? Or Aaron? Or the King himself! And Undyne had to go through his house, and what she found in his closet about what he does- did this time of year broke m- her heart! And hey, you ever been in the Ruins?"

"No, I thought there wasn't anything worthwhile there."

"...well there isn't. Not _now_. Just a stupid old lady who had the greatest danger to monsters in her own damned house, but treated them like a damn flower!"

"Yo, you mean the Qu-"

"She's no Queen! She sat there on the sidelines stewing about what Asgore was trying to do, but I didn't see her come up with any solutions! And then she waltzes back into town and spews a bunch of crap about how we should be friends with humans? After they killed the King and lost all the souls?! Hell no! I wish Papyrus would leave her alone, it's what she deserves! That's what Undyne's trying to teach us, kid. Humans are too dangerous. We. Have. To. Be. Ready. Nobody's dying on her watch, even if it kills her!"

"Uh, wouldn't that count as someone dying-"

A third hole ripped the rug as another spear landed right in front of him. Santa still looked pissed, but she simply plopped down on the floor to scowl at him.

"...dude, the King was wrong about you."

Her teeth were swallowed by her lips contracting. "What," she mouthed.

"Well, he came to school a while back, and the topic shifted to Santa, and he was super interested in what we thought about him. And you know what he said? That Santa has the most important job in the Underground."

"Well he did. I mean I do!"

"You sure? Because he said while the King has to lead us and maybe free us one day, Santa has to try and keep us happy. He said Santa knew the Underground's hard to live in sometimes, so if he could cheer us up, that gives us a little something to look forward to that we know is definitely coming. But you don't think like that. We might be safer under the Empress-"

" _First Citizen!_ "

"-and maybe that human really was a turd, but what have we got to look forward to now? Extra drilling? Gee, thanks. For someone who's supposed to be worried about monsters... you sure do think like a human."

If he had been maybe fifteen times larger and had enough power to destroy the barrier with a flick of his tail, Santa might have tried to kill him for that barb. Instead her eye just bulged at him.

"Goodnight, dude." He turned around and walked to his room, the mace carving gouges in the floor behind him.

He didn't get too much sleep. His whole family was woken up early by nervous knocking on their door, and a blue bunny in armour he was way too skinny for announced the First Citizen wanted to see them. Choosing not to bring his mace with him, partly to avoid questions about all the damage to the floor, he wondered if Santa told on him. Funny, it's supposed to be the other way around, wasn't it?

Undyne hadn't moved into Asgore's old house. She hadn't done anything with it except forbid anyone else going there without permission. Instead she had enlarged her own house, feeling like being in the middle of all the monsters would make training them easier. The extra room wasn't an act of vanity however, it now doubled as the secondary barracks for the expanded Royal Guard, and their armoury and training room. And it was this training room the small family were ushered into.

"Hey, kid!"

The First Citizen had eschewed the armour she normally wore in public, instead wearing a tasteful jacket and polo. The Royal Scientist was there too, in a slightly too fancy dress. They sat at random spots on a long table, covered in food.

"Cooked this myself overnight. Eat up, guys! Kid, your seat is here."

The family were intrigued at the unexpected invitation, and took the other seats surrounding where their son had been assigned. As he sat, he felt something lumpy. Getting off to examine his seat he saw a sky blue present.

"Open it!"

Knowing better than to refuse the First Citizen, he fiddled with the paper using his tail. Soon an earnest smile framed by Cat Ears was looking up at him.

"I had a conference with the Royal Scientist, and she counselled me that this was the finest comicbook in the Underground!"

"W-well, I would have suggested Volume Three, b-but we don't have it all y-yet."

"Yo, this is awesome! You're way cooler than Santa!"

Her grin vanished. "No I'm not. Santa asked me to give that to you. He just got... kinda scared when we lost the King, like most of us did. Neither of us want anyone hurt. It took an obnoxious little brat to talk some sense into him. Gotta have more in life than just surviving, right? Anyway, he promises to try and relax a little next year."

"Cool! Yo, Sis, what'd you get?"

"These boots are pretty! Looks like something should be attached to them though."

"Uh, he says not to worry about that, it's a style choice."

The Blue Bunny entered the hall. "Miss Undyne, the others are here."

"Awesome! Bring them in."

"Others?"

"C'mon, kid, you think you can mouth off to Santa and you're the only one to reap the rewards? He thinks you're right, this should be a time for happiness! As as part of that I'm giving you all free cooking lessons too!"

"...works for me."

Several other families came in, a mixture of confusion, eagerness and nervousness on their faces. It was Sans who broke the ice, picking a seat entirely at random and blowing the tension away with a _pbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbt_.

**Author's Note:**

> Pastebin Version: https://pastebin.com/p72Dt2cb
> 
> Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!


End file.
